Josh Zetumer in Talks to Pen Dune

Josh Zetumer is in negotiations to write the latest incarnation of Dune, Frank Herbert’s sprawling sci-fi epic, for Paramount Pictures.

The Hollywood Reporter says the award-winning 1965 novel — the first in a series of six books about a futuristic struggle for control of a precious spice called Melange on the desert planet Arrakis — was first adapted by David Lynch into a 1984 film and was also a SCI FI Channel miniseries in 2000.

Kevin Misher is producing the new version through his Paramount-based Misher Films. Herbert’s son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson, who have co-written several additional “Dune” novels, will co-produce.